Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed official GOP candidate for Tennessee’s Congressional District House seat, Michelle Foreman, in-studio to discuss her top three legislative objectives.
Leahy: Now, Michelle, what would be your top three priorities if you were to be elected and were to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly when they convene in January of 2023?
Foreman: I have the top three. But I don’t want to start off by saying the platform is premised by protecting the Nashville way. Having grown up in Nashville, we have a Nashville way of doing things. No one likes politicians.
They divide us, they turn neighbors against each other. But that’s not how I was raised growing up here in Nashville. We just didn’t do that. Democrats and Republicans live together.
Leahy: So it’s interesting you mentioned the Nashville way. As you know, I must admit, I’m a Yankee way back when.
Foreman: It’s okay.
Leahy: We moved here in 1991 from California. We were in California at the time, but we moved here with my wife from Texas. So I got that Southern connection there.
Foreman: Yes, you do.
Leahy: But here’s the thing. It took me probably five years to understand the Nashville way. About five years, because as a Yankee, you talk fast and you’re kind of blunt.
Foreman: A little.
Leahy: And I’m still kind of blunt, sort of.
Foreman: A little.
Leahy: But I’m tempered a little bit because people in Tennessee are very nice people.
Foreman: Yes, we are.
Leahy: And if they have a disagreement, they do it in a very gentlemanly or gentlewomanly way.
Foreman: Yes.
Leahy: It took me a while to develop that skill. And I’ve got the inner Yankee in me. You see it occasionally. Now I understand the Nashville way. And it’s a very genteel approach to politics I would say.
Foreman: It is. And I think we refer to that approach as being a statesman. We’re warm, we’re friendly, we’re welcoming, we still have a backbone and we stand our ground. But I do feel like we need more people from Nashville representing Nashville who appreciate that.
And they appreciate the residents. They appreciate who we are because they know and love who we’ve always been. And that does include that warm, friendly, welcoming, and genteel approach that we have. And I’m not opposed to making things new or better in Nashville.
Leahy: If you’re from California or you’re from New York and you want to move to Nashville, come on in.
Foreman: Absolutely.
Leahy: But don’t impose your California ways or your New York ways upon us. Your job is to conform to the Nashville way.
Foreman: That’s right. Because you want to move here for that reason, right?
Leahy: Yeah. Not ruin it!
Foreman: Right.
Leahy: Don’t take your blue-state ideas and ruin the greatest red state in America, Tennessee.
Foreman: That’s right. And the greatest city, in my opinion.
Leahy: I agree with that. It’s a beautiful place. So your three legislative priorities are consistent with your main theme of keeping and maintaining the Nashville way.
Foreman: This is true. And when you think about Tennessee, you think about our economy and our economic growth. Tennessee has for so long had a strong history of economic growth, and that’s due to the wise decisions made by our General Assembly.
We have a Republican Supermajority, as you know, and so I want to continue to support that, and that’s low taxes, reduced government spending. I think we do a good job of that at the state level.
We want to make sure that Tennesseans keep more of the money that they earn and that it goes into their pocket. I do think that as a steward of what God has provided all of us, Tennesseans should decide how to best manage their own family finances, not the government. And I think we do a good job of that statewide.
Leahy: Is there a specific bill that you would introduce with elements and components that would address keeping low taxes here in Tennessee?
Foreman: We look at what people want and what they need and then we can pull from it and create if need be.
Leahy: Terrific! That looks like an interesting Nashville agenda.
Listen to the full interview:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
